Article
Environmental Sciences
Yannick Back, Prashant Kumar, Peter M. Bach, Wolfgang Rauch, Manfred Kleidorfer
Summary: The demand for residential, commercial and traffic areas in rapidly growing cities increases due to urban densification, resulting in surface sealing. Climate change adds to the risks faced by cities worldwide, necessitating holistic urban planning strategies and adaptive measures. This study combines Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Geographic Information System (GIS) to refine an existing urban micro-and bio-climatic modelling approach and demonstrates the importance of variability in wind speed and air temperature patterns in urban heat development and thermal comfort assessment.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mathilde Puche, Alberto Vavassori, Maria Antonia Brovelli
Summary: This study investigates the impact of urban morphology and land cover composition on Land Surface Temperature (LST) and air temperature using the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification system. The results indicate that vegetation and natural areas are major mitigating factors for both LST and air temperature, while higher buildings increase local air temperature.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Pritanka Sandbhor, T. P. Singh, Mahesh Kalshettey
Summary: The research analyzed the impact of urbanization on the diurnal temperature range based on land surface temperature, finding a decreasing trend in diurnal temperature range with increasing urbanization in Pune, India, especially in the Built-up land use class. These findings provide insights for policymakers and urban planners to make informed decisions towards sustainable development in the Pune Metropolitan Region.
ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yu Yan, Yukun Zhang, Ashutosh Sharma, Jehad F. Al-Amri
Summary: This article improves the imbalance in land-use structure and function distribution by establishing an evaluation index system for the suitability of urban land, using GIS technology. It provides a more rational use of land service space and contributes to determining the topographic slope of the planning area and evaluation index weight for the analysis of superposition factors.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Qiquan Yang, Xin Huang, Xiaohua Tong, Changjiang Xiao, Jie Yang, Yue Liu, Yinxia Cao
Summary: This study fills the research gap by investigating the spatiotemporal pattern of urban trees' cooling efficiency (CE) in 510 global cities. Results show that daytime CE decreases with increasing fractional tree cover (FTC) in most cities, while nighttime CE weakens. CE varies among cities and tends to be higher in hot and dry cities. Additionally, CE exhibits distinct seasonal variation.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Alvin Christopher G. Varquez, Sifan Dong, Shinya Hanaoka, Manabu Kanda
Summary: The influence of train stations on urban growth varies over time and based on each city. Train stations lead to urbanization in their immediate surroundings, but the growth at urban boundaries is slow in the first five years of future prediction. The presence of train stations will accelerate urbanization in the 2040s, as indicated by higher growth rates in the scenarios that consider railway-induced urban growth. This work demonstrates the potential to model railway-induced urban growth on a global scale using publicly available GIS datasets.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yue Qin, Weilin Liao, Dan LI
Summary: The study improves the Two-Resistance Mechanism (TRM) attribution method to analyze the urban-rural contrast of heat stress. The method can diagnose any heat stress index related to temperature and humidity. The summertime urban-rural contrast of Simplified Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (SWBGT) is primarily caused by evapotranspiration and heat storage release in urban areas. The differences in aerodynamic features in urban-rural areas play both positive and negative roles.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Weiwu Wang, Di Wang, Huan Chen, Biyan Wang, Xin Chen
Summary: Urban heat islands are mainly caused by mismanaged urban development, and urban ventilation corridors can effectively reduce them. This study employed a newly developed method to design city-level urban ventilation corridors and calculate the urban ventilation potential based on factors such as building density, height, green land area, water bodies, roads, and urban terrain. By evaluating Hangzhou city, areas with tremendous ventilation potential were identified for planning and construction measures.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xin Zhang, Xiaoyu Zeng, Hao Luo, Chenyi Zhou, Zhile Shu, Lijun Jiang, Zelin Wang, Zheng Fei, Jiayang Yu, Xin Yang, Wenwu Zhong
Summary: This study analyzes the relationship between geological disasters and Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes (LUCC), as well as meteorological and hydrological factors in Neijiang City, Sichuan hilly area. The results show that geological disasters mainly occur in farmland areas and urban areas near rivers, with a strong correlation between average rainfall and the probability of geological disasters occurring. This research provides a scientific basis for geological disaster risk assessment, prevention and control in the region, and has reference significance for ecological environment governance and land resources planning and management in similar regions.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Elena Cervelli, Stefania Pindozzi
Summary: This paper focuses on the direct impacts of urban growth on rural lands, using the Vesuvius National Park as a case study. Through the comparison and analysis of historical maps, the study reveals the changes in land use and landscape patterns. The results highlight the need to integrate landscape planning and landscape ecology approaches to promote the synergistic development between urban, agricultural, and natural areas.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaolong Lu, Haihui Wang, Huanliang Chen, Shuai Gao
Summary: Understanding the factors influencing urban thermal environment is crucial for developing heat island mitigation policies and studying urban ecology. This study analyzed the relationship between natural conditions/socioeconomic factors and land surface temperature (LST), and found that both factors have a significant impact on LST. The results can be used as a reference for mitigating urban heat islands in similar cities.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Shahnilla Haider Rizvi, Hira Fatima, Khan Alam, Muhammad Jawed Iqbal
Summary: This study focuses on the comparative assessment of surface urban heat island in coastal areas of Pakistan using remote sensing techniques, analyzing spatial patterns, seasonal changes, and the association between SUHI and wind stream. The results will be useful for urban planners to enhance environmental sustainability practices.
ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2021)
Review
Construction & Building Technology
Cyrus Ho Hin Wong, Meng Cai, Chao Ren, Ying Huang, Cuiping Liao, Shi Yin
Summary: This paper reviews and compares major methods for simulating building energy use at the urban scale, highlighting differences in strengths, limitations, and applications. It suggests that future development in urban-scale building energy use should explore ways to incorporate spatial variation in weather and morphological conditions, especially in dense urban settings facing greater environmental challenges.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Ashique Vadakkuveettil, Aakriti Grover
Summary: The unbalanced shift in land use and cover patterns due to urban growth increases land surface temperature and leads to the emergence of surface urban heat islands. This study examines the impact of evolving land use and cover patterns on land surface temperature and their correlation with vegetation index and building index. The results show a significant decrease in vegetated areas and an increase in built-up areas, with a corresponding rise in land surface temperature. It is crucial for urban planners and policymakers to address these imbalances and implement sustainable development measures, such as urban greening, to control the rising land surface temperature.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yi Yang, Shen Guangrong, Zhang Chen, Sun Hao, Zhang Zhouyiling, Yin Shan
Summary: Urbanization leads to significant land use/land cover changes and increases urban heat island effect. This study analyzes the spatial distribution patterns of land use/land cover changes and surface urban heat island intensity, as well as the relationship between impervious surface and vegetation coverage and urban heat island intensity. The future land cover and land surface temperature in Shanghai are predicted under different development scenarios. The results show that the ecological space protection model can effectively reduce the urban heat island effect.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)